How to deal with cuts and minor soft tissues in and around the mouth

Swollen lip can occur due to direct trauma

September 20, 2018January 25, 2019 ~ emergencydentists1

There are many reasons why you may get cuts and soft tissue injuries in and around the mouth, including trauma and unexpected reasons like sharp pieces of food or unexpected foreign objects in food (like bone).

The main types of wounds to be expected are cuts, grazes, minor lacerations, puncture wounds. They can be very painful as the wound stretches during normal function and can also sting and bleed profusely.

The wounds generally tend to bleed a lot because the mouth is very heavily vascularised, and the bleeding can sometimes be surprising as it is not proportional to the size of the injury. As the blood mixes with saliva, it can appear even more serious than it really is.

Management is fairly straight forward. Most minor injuries in the mouth will heal of their own accord over the course of a few days.

First, don’t panic.

Try to keep the area clean. Bathe the area with warm salty water or an antiseptic mouthwash
Bleeding normally stops after a few minutes of compression with some clean gauze or cotton. If you don’t have access, a clean tea bag will do the job
Avoid spicy and hot food-these will probably sting.
Use painkillers if required.

If you find that the wound and pain is not improving after a few days, or if you are having difficulty stopping bleeding, then you should see your emergency dentist. Control of bleeding is a real dental emergency, and if necessary arrange to see a 24 hour dentist.

The emergency dentist will assess why your wound is not healing or stopping bleeding. To help stop bleeding, especially if the wound is deep, your dentist may apply chemicals to help or place stitches.

If the wound is not healing, the emergency dentist may check for infection. This is more common if the wound has not been cared for, if you smoke, if the wound is very deep or if you have underlying medical conditions.

Please do not place clove oil on wounds, it burns the tissue and you will find it more painful than necessary.

If you have suffered trauma that has caused the wound, you may need to go to A/E for further follow-up, including tetanus shots.

Broken Front Tooth

July 16, 2018January 25, 2019 ~ emergencydentists1

A trip, a fall or a blow to the mouth can happen at any time, and can lead to the front teeth or tooth being damaged. This can be very distressing, as other than pain and loss of function, you are damaged cosmetically. This can lead to self-awareness and shyness, and affect you psychologically too.

Most breaks to the front teeth can often be repaired readily and easily, although this can be dependent upon the amount of damage.

Below is a short brief about a patient who attended recently (she has allowed us to use her pictures for the purpose of this blog). She attended the emergency dentist clinic following a fall the night before where she had broken her front right hand side central and lateral incisor. Due to the exposed dentine, the teeth were sensitive to cold, and other than the obvious cosmetic issues the injury were affecting her ability to eat and drink. X-rays were taken to confirm no physical movement or damage to the roots of the teeth.

Fortunately, the breaks (although close to the nerve) hadn’t physically exposed the pulp. We were able to place a lining material to help protect the nerve. Injuries that are close to the nerve (pulp) of the tooth, have a higher incidence of becoming infected or necrotic in the future, so regular monitoring of the health of the teeth is necessary to identify any issues at an early a stage as possible.

Time is of the essence as leaving breaks open can allow bacteria to enter the pulp through microscopic exposures.

We had a discussion with the patient and advised her that she will likely require crowns or veneers in the future, however, a medium term immediate solution would be to repair the teeth was composite filling repairs (composite bonding). This would successfully repair the breaks for now, address the cosmetic and functional issues caused by the injury and also “buy” some time to see what impact (if any) the injury has on the pulp of the teeth.

We were able to repair the teeth with composite bonding. Multiple shades were used to help achieve a more harmonious appearance. The breaks allowed us to help correct the position of the previously maligned right lateral incisor (it was previously pointing down and backwards).

Although we were able to achieve an immediate repair of the situation, better aesthetics can be achieved with porcelain restorations, and they tend to be stronger in the long run.

How to find a 24 hour dentist or an emergency dentist

emergency dentists in London, 24 hour dentist North London

July 6, 2018January 25, 2019 ~ emergencydentists1 ~ 4 Comments

Any unforeseen dental mishap can be classed as a dental emergency. You don’t have to be in pain-any situation that stresses you, has the likelihood of being to your detriment if left untreated, causes pain or affects not just form but function, can necessitate a visit to an emergency dentist.

There are some instances where it may be more sensible to go to hospital in the first instance. These include if you have suffered a trauma or medical condition that has caused other more serious injuries or loss of consciousness. It’s important to prioritize your health. In addition, if you are experiencing symptoms of a spreading infection like a very high fever or severe difficulties breathing, then a trip to hospital may be more appropriate in the first instance.

If you are fortunate enough not to require immediate medical help, then finding an emergency dentist can be fairly straight forward. Emergency dentist Essex and Emergency Dentist Hertfordshire can help with 24 hour emergency dental appointments for toothache, root canal treatments and teeth extractions, as well as swollen faces and dental abscess.

Initially, call your own dentist and follow the advice on their answerphone. They may give details of emergency dentist arrangements in-house.
How to contact an emergency dentist
If you are here in the UK, and you are a NHS patient, then call NHS emergency dental services. They may be able to help with dental emergencies, but do note that this service is often oversubscribed, they have limited slots available and they have a strict criteria for what constitutes a dental emergency. You will be assessed on the phone by a triage professional, and you may be offered an emergency slot at a clinic, but this may not be local to you and may not be on the same day.
Private services are available and generally can deal with most dental emergencies. They will be more likely to provide you with an immediate appointment, and the costs although aren’t necessarily expensive, and should not be prohibitive. In order to minimise your cost and treatment, you are well within your rights to ask for all options available and the costs involved, and to do only what addresses your immediate concerns. Private services can be recommended by your own dentist’s emergency arrangement information, recommendation from a friend or by searching on the internet. A good guide if you want to find an emergency dentists near me. To find an emergency dentist in London, Yell is a very good source, and is also useful for finding an emergency dentist North London.
Searching online for an emergency dentists needn’t be stressful
Dental insurance providers. If you have dental insurance, try calling your provider, as some may be able to recommend clinics that they know of or are preferred providers. This also gives you an opportunity to ask exactly what kind of treatment, and how much you are covered for. Denplan, Dencover and Boots all have dental emergency insurance cover. Please retain all receipts and ask the dentist to provide an itemized invoice confirming that the visit was for an emergency.